Letter holder



June 13, 1961 w. T. ARMSTRONG 2,933,231

LETTER HOLDER Filed May 5, 195a n lmmnllm INVENTOR BY WW1, fifeg 61 1 2417 6 7 4277/ Wyatt a Patented June 13, 1961 2,988,231 LE'ITER HOLDER William T. Armstrong, Rte. 1, Prairie View, 11]. Filed May 5, 1958, Ser. No. 732,953 3 Claims. (Cl. 211-50) The present invention relates to letter holders.

The volume and diversity of mail received in many homes and oflices makes it desirable to provide a relatively permanent predetermined location in the home or ofiice at which the addressee may find such mail. In the absence of such an arrangement there is a danger that mail, after its delivery, may become commingled with the addressees old mail and other papers so as to prevent its being taken care of in the usual course. It is, therefore, desirable to provide letter holders as conspicuous and permanent means for holding mail. The utility of such letter holders may be greatly enhanced by providing them with a plurality of mail receiving compartments to permit separate storing of mail delivered at the same address and directed to different persons. In the absence of such an arrangement each person, in order to segregate his mail from the delivery, has to examine the entire delivery. A need for such separation of mail exists in large and small families as Well as in rooming houses or ofiices. Even mail directed to the same person may have to be separated and arranged according to its source or subject matter. It is, consequently, desirable to provide a letter holder capable of holding and keeping separate a plurality of pieces of mail. Such a letter holder should be sturdy, attractive in appearance, and easy to manufacture and repair. Each compartment should be adapted to retain securely one or more items placed therein.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved letter holder.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a letter holder capable of holding and keeping separate a plurality of pieces of mail.

It is a further object of the present invention to facilitate the manufacture of a large variety of letter holders of different shapes and sizes by using a limited number of standardized parts.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a letter holder in which the separate compartments for holding mail are interchangeable and may readily be removed from the support so as to permit cleaning, replacement, repair and other alterations or handling.

-It is another object of the invention to provide a letter holder each compartment of which will firmly hold one or more letters deposited therein.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a letter holder each compartment of which is defined by one angular or curved wall and one straight wall.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent as the following description proceeds, and the features of novelty which characterize the invention will be pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this specification.

For a better understanding of the present invention, reference may be had to the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a letter holder embodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged, fragmentary side view of the letter holder shown in FIG. 1, with certain portion cut away;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken on line 33 of FIG. 2, assuming that FIG. 2 shows the complete structure; and

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the back side of a portion of the letter holder of the present invention.

Briefly, the present invention pertains to a letter holder 9 having a plurality of individual interconnected means defining compartments 10 (FIG. 2) for receiving mail, which means are attached by suitable fastening means to a support 11. The attachment of the means defining the compartments 10 to the support 11 is such that such means can readily be removed, interchanged, and reattached. In this construction a minimum of different parts can be combined to form letter holders of diiferent design.

Referring now to the drawing, there is illustrated an embodiment of the invention in which a letter holder generally designated at 9 comprises four separate vertically arranged compartments 10 defined by means which are suitably secured to each other and to a foundation or support 11 illustrated as of generally rectangular configuration, and which may be made of wood or any other suitable material. Each compartment 10 is defined by a rectangular back plate 12, which is preferably formed from sheet metal but may be made of any other suitable resilient material such as plastic, and a decorative face member 13 which in the illustration comprises a generally circular brass design the diameter of which is slightly less than the width of the back plate. Although the face members 13 are all designated by a single reference numeral, they may be identical in design or, as illustrated, each may be slightly diflferent. In accordance with the present invention and as best shown in FIG. 4, each back plate is essentially defined in two planes as by bending one portion 12a of each back plate out of the plane of the other portion 1215, these two portions being integrally united. The face member 13 is attached to the portion 12b of the back plate 12 by any suitable means such at by a plurality of rivets 1-4. With this arrangement the face member 13 is disposed at an angle with the portion 12a of the back plate defining the letter receiving recess or compartment 10 therebetween.

It will be appreciated that the face plates may comprise decorative castings of many shapes and designs, all formed in a single plane which is also the plane of portion 12b of the resilient back plate 12. On the other hand, the resilient back plates 12 are all identical and may simply comprise a deformed sheet metal stamping deformed into two planes. From its juncture with its back plate 12, each face member 13 extends upward and outward from the portion 12a of the associated back plate forming a compartment 10 into which one or more items of mail may be deposited. Due to its own weight and the force with which mail is placed in one of the compartments 10, such mail will press apart the walls of the compartments tending to widen the angle therebetween so that the mail will be securely retained in the compartment by a sort of clamping action.

In accordance with the present invention, the elements 12 and 13 defining the individual compartments 10 are interconnected and attached to the support 11 as best shown in FIG. 2. For this purpose the back plates 11 are provided with a plurality of openings, one in each corner, and decorative eyelet rivets 17 are provided in the openings in each upper corner.. In addition, a pair of fastening means :18 is provided, one for each lower corner of back plates 12, as best shown in FIGS. 2 and 4. Each fastening means 18 has an integral eyelet 18a which is attached one to each bottom corner of each back plate- 12 on the support side thereof by means of an eyelet rivet 21. Each fastening means 18 also includes an integral hook portion 18b. Each hook portion 18b is disposed in a plane perpendicular to the plane of its eyelet portion 18a, as best shown in FIG. 2 of the drawing, and extends through an associated opening 22 in plate 12 disposed below the openings for the eyelet rivets 21. With the above-described arrangement the hook portions 18b are inserted into corresponding eyelets 17 provided in each top corner of each back plate 12 so that a string of interconnected plates 12 is provided.

The hooks 18b, besides serving as links interconnecting the individual plates 12 and attached face members 13, also cooperate with means provided in the support 11 for mounting the plates 12 to the support 11. In accordance with the present invention, the support 11 is provided on its front face with a plurality of pairs of spaced longitudinally extending grooves 23 in each of which a perpendicular bar 24 is suitably disposed. The spacing between each pair of grooves is the same as that between each pair of hook portions or hooks 18b. The bars 24 may each comprise a nail or other suitable fastening means driven in from the side of support 11 through the associated groove. The bars 24 engage the free ends of the hooks 18b and thus secure the plates 12 against upward or outward motion relative to the support 11. The grooves 23 are deep and wide enough to allow easy insertion of the hooks 18b therein, but not so deep as to adversely affect the strength and stability of the support 11. As illustrated in the drawing, and particularly in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, the grooves 23 are about twice as wide as the hooks 18b, of a depth slightly in excess of one half the thickness of the support 11, and sufiiciently long to accommodate the free ends of the hooks 20. In order not to adversely affect the strength of the support 11, it is preferable to provide the support 11 withan individual groove 23 for each hook 18a rather than a continuous groove although continuous grooves could be employed. To allow the ends of the hooks 18b to be freely inserted between the perpendicular-bars 24 and the bottom of the grooves 23 as well as their withdrawal therefrom, substantial space is left between the bottom of the grooves 23 and the bars 24. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, approximately one half of the depth of grooves 23 is below the bars 24.

In order to keep the interconnected plates 12 secured to the support 11 against downward pull, wood screws 25 or other suitable fastening means are driven into the support 11 through the two eyelets 17 provided in the upper corners of the uppermost back plate 12. A decorative washer 26, as shown in FIG. 2, may be employed with each screw 25.

For the purpose of holding the lowermost plate 12 firmly against the support 11, two recesses 27 are provided in the bottom edge of the support 11. The spacing of the recesses 27 is such as to receive the lowermost hooks 18b, as clearly shown in FIG. 2 of the drawing. A decorative-metal eyelet 28 is preferably provided in each of the recesses 27, which will also prevent damage to the walls defining the recesses upon insertion and removal of the hooks 18b.

Suitable means 34 for suspending the letter holder from a wall are provided on the back side of the support 11 near the top thereof. As illustrated, suspension means 34 comprises a hanger 36 disposed within a recess 35 in the back of support 11. A suitable screw 37 secures hanger 36 to support 11.

To assemble the letter holder, a number of plates 12 with the attacked face plates 13 defining the compartments 10 are interconnected by their books 18b, and their eyelets 17 and the string of interconnected compartments 10 are then placed upon the front surface of the support 11 and moved upwardly so that the free ends of the hooks 18b of all but the bottom plate 12 enter the grooves 23 and engage the bars 24, while the hooks 18b of the lowermost plate 12 move into the recesses 27. Then the screws 26 are applied to hold the same in assembled relationship.

It will be understood that for providing an attractive appearance the plates 12 may be coated with black or other suitable enamel, and all other metal parts may comprise a polished brass or a combination of polished or antique brass. The support 11 is preferably of some natural wood finish.

In view of the detailed description included above it will be appreciated that there has been provided a very useful letter holder which consists of a very limited number of different components which are easy to manufacture. Assembly and disassembly of the letter holder is very simple and allows substitution of parts, all with,- out impairing the sturdiness and serviceability possesed by the letter holder.

While there has been illustrated and described a particular embodiment of the present invention, it will be apparent that numerous changes and modifications thereof will occur to those skilled in the art, and it is intended in the appended claims to cover all those changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the present invention.

What is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A letter holder comprising a support and a plurality of mail receiving compartments, a plurality of hooks extending from each of said compartments, said support having a plurality of grooves in its front surface, perpendicular bars secured in said grooves, said compartments being detachably secured to said front surfaces of said support against upward and outward pull by the insertion of said hooks in said grooves behind said bars.

2. A letter holder according to claim 1 in which said mail receiving compartments are interconnected, said compartments being secured to said support against spurious disengagement by fastening means for securing the terminal compartments to said support.

3. A letter holder comprising a rigid support, a plurality of compartments, separate means for securing each compartment to said support, each compartment being defined by a resilient flat back plate having the lower portion thereof bent out of a first plane comprising the plane of the major portion of said plate, which first plane is substantially parallel to said rigid support, and a front plate comprising a rigid casting secured at its lower end to said lower portion thereby to be. disposed in a second plane parallel with the plane of .said lower portion, said major portion of said casting and said plate defining an angular pocket therebetween for the reception of letters and the like and providing a clamping action on matter disposed in said pocket.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 836,321 Hill Nov. 20, 1906 959,839 Buehler May 31, 1910 1,069,711 MacDonald Aug. 22, 1913 1,306,114 Koval June 10, 1919 1,528,744 Dix Mar. 3, 1925 1,715,078 Whyte et al. May 28, 1929 2,066,822 Cohen Jan. 5, 1937 FOREIGN PATENTS 117,286 Germany Feb. 2, 1901 984,962 France Mar. 7, 1951 

